11 years!

 Tomorrow Lucy turns 11.  11 years ago I was sitting at my grandmother's house surrounded by family while my contractions raged; coming every hour or so, as they had been most of the day.  I went home, went to bed and woke up around midnight and could not endure the pain any longer. We rushed to the hospital and Lucy was born about 5 hours later.  She came in fast and furious and has kept us on our toes ever since.  Lucy is a sensitive soul.  She feels others pain and excitement in a way that makes her life both exciting and scary sometimes.  She loves to bake! You can often find her in the kitchen listening to her audiobook and baking up some tasty treat to share with us and the rest of the family. She is inspired by The Great British Baking Show and bakes up a mean "buttery biscuit" from Paul Hollywood's favorite recipes. She loves animals and learning about them.  We found ourselves visiting the Columbus Zoo this summer so that she could see all the animals that she has been watching on "Secrets of the Zoo". She remembered every animal and the keepers and whatever illness they had had previously.  It was impressive and wonderful to watch her enjoy the trip so much.  She is our family memory keeper, and often has memories that I don't even have stored.  I joke that she is going to make a great HR supervisor one day since her ability to remember people and their stories is impeccable.  She loves her cousins and friends and loves spending time with people!!  She is an extrovert and prefers to cuddle, chat, play games, or just be next to other people, rather than spend time alone.  This year Lucy has mastered cribbage.  She beats us all about 90% of the time.  She takes her winning in stride, even though I know she is secretly celebrating that she has finally found a game that she can beat her sister in.  She has become a Celtics fan, and a tennis fan.  She and Marcus have enjoyed spending time together rooting on their favorites.  She was hesitant about this school year as most of her friends have moved on to go to other schools, but just as we knew she would, she is finding lots of new friends, and making her way as the head of the class.  She is a hard worker and is praised by her teachers as bringing people together to work and keeping them accountable for their work.  We love our Goosey and can't wait to have many more adventures with her as she becomes a young lady in this crazy world.  Tonight as Marcus sings Boomdiada to her, which is still required before bed, she will be comforted by the tag on her blankie that she has had since she was an infant and wake up tomorrow 11.  Happy trip around the sun Goose!